Mystery of the Debate
Mystery of the Debate is the first episode of Mister T: The Animated Series. It is inspired by the Nixon-Kennedy Debates and guest stars Josie and the Pussycats. Premise While visiting Syracuse, NY for a meet, the team uncovers a plot by an unpopular mayoral candidate to win an upcoming debate between him and his much more popular opponent in the hopes of winning the position of mayor. When the rock band Josie and the Pussycats gets involved, things end up going crazy while trying to solve the mystery while Alexandra Cabot takes a dislike to Mr. T for him confronting her on her antics towards the band. Why does that mayoral candidate want to be mayor so badly? Plot Mr. T is taking part in a debate on political corruption. When the moderator asks him a question about any experiences he might have had, Mr. T responds by saying that he has in some unexpected ways. He then explains that one event he witnessed happened during a mayoral debate in Syracuse, NY. It has come to be called The Mystery of the Debate. Mr. T and the team are attending a Josie and the Pussycats concert in Syracuse, NY. After a performance of one of their songs, Josie introduces a man who makes a speech. That man is William Sedgwick, a candidate for Mayor of Syracuse. Sedgwick's speech does not take too long. It was not supposed to. Mr. T notes that the debate between William Sedgwick and John Carver is coming up in a few days. When Sedgwick is done, Josie and the Pussycats start another song. At that moment, Robin notices that someone is trying to sabotage the concert. Mr. T proceeds to jump Alexandra Cabot before she can cause any trouble for the band. Josie thanks Mr. T for stopping Alexandra who is really mad. William Sedgwick, who is a friend of Mr. T, notes that getting an endorsement from Josie and the Pussycats was very difficult as the band is not known for endorsing any political candidates. Suddenly, he starts to feel sick and collapses. Sedgwick is rushed to the hospital where it is determined that he has been poisoned. Mr. T and the team decide to investigate. At the gym, the team is practicing for a meet that is coming up when Josie and the Pussycats arrive with the toxicology report. The poison turns out to have been a rare poison slipped into his drink. The poison is not fatal, but who could have poisoned him. Suspicion falls on the rival candidate in the mayoral election, John Carver. Carver is not very popular and is suspected of involvement in a series of police brutality incidents. Jeff and Woody sneak into Carver's campaign office and find the exact poison used to take Sedgwick out of commission. They also discover that Carver was involved in some corrupt activities. The debate arrives and William Sedgwick has recovered. Just as Carver is making blatant remarks about why he would make a better mayor than Sedgwick using his poisoning as justification, The team crashes the debate with the assistance of Josie and the Pussycats as well as the police. They reveal to the public that John Carver was responsible for poisoning William Sedgwick. He was determined to become mayor so that he could sweep his misdeeds under the rug. John Carver is arrested. Mr. T explains that Carver was eventually convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He explains that while John Carver was already known to have been involved in police brutality, the fact that Carver was corrupt came as total shock. It goes show that political corruption could be in someone you least expected. Cast and Characters Suspects Culprit Songs Location *Syracuse, NY Trivia *Aside from being the first episode of the show itself, this episode set the trend in which every time Josie and the Pussycats appeared on the show, there was a new song created specifically for that episode.